I have to argree with Cougar Guy here. How can the current ownership blame the fans in PG for not supporting the team, when the franchise has done next to nothing to support the fans or the City in any way shape or form. How can he justify this being the 12th year in Prince George with no banners to show, and only two seasons of extended playoffs? I fully understand that junior hockey is cyclical, but at what part of the cycle has this (un)organization ever legitimately been? Why thought process was undertaken with this season? Sure....sell the future and show a going for it attitude, but why would you do that when this looked to be one of the weakest BC divisions in a long time? Looking at preseason rosters Vancouver was a shoe in for taking the BC div. and knowing that they had a birth into the Memorial Cup it was a no-brainer that they were going to be the team to beat (at the time). No one can say they could have predicted Kamloops to be as strong as they are, or that PG was going to flounder they way that they did. To look at the playoff picture early, the trip to the Cup goes through Vancouver. Did the Cougars mamnagement really stop and think about that? They knew at some point they would have to beat Vancouver, a team that everyone knew was going to load up for the playoffs and the Cup to even have the chance to get into the WhL finals.
The www.keepthewhlinpg.com site has shown to be a double edged sword around here. On the opne side it would send a strong message to the Brodsky's and the WHL that there are a lot of hockey fans in PG. On the flip side it could be interpreted that PG hockey fans would sooner watch BCHL that WHL. I've heard people say the only way to keep the team here is to attend the games and have strong attendadce numbers. If we all did that there would be no reason for the Brodsky's to sell, or even try to improve the team for that matter, if the money were still rolling in. By showing dwindling attendance numbers people have shown strongly their dissatisfaction withthe ownership. Its telling them that there were 5000+ strong Cougar fans in this city, but due to ownership not managing the team into a winning franchise you have driven them away. You don't care about your product for us to watch, why would we care about giving you our hard earned money?
I know it will be a hard seel to try and get the majority of the Board of Governors to vote to keep the Cougars in PG, and not let the Brodsky's move it yet again. I don't know if there is one team in the league that wants to make that trip west from Kamloops and turn right at Cache Creek to come up here. Another thing to concider though is this. How many friends does Rick have left on the Board? I understand from a number of sources he's p'd a lot of people off at the Governor level, so they might vote against him just because. There is a pattern clearly developed here. Buy or move the team to a new city. Have great support for a few years while hype is still strong. Once it takes a good hockey person to develop the team into something, the team spirals down hill quickly, loosing fans support. Apply to move again.
There has historically been good fans support for hockey here in PG. The fans have had enough lip service. Enough empty 'promises' of building the team into a winner. Twelve years, no championships of any kind. People here aren't dumb. They know it can be done, and done is a pretty short period of time. They have seen Kootenay win the WHL and Memorial Cup. They have seen Kelowna do the same thing. Everett and Vancouver, two of the newest franchises in the league are poised to take the WHL again, and again before the Cougars have won anything. 12 seasons, 7 head coaches, and to many assistant coaches to count. The hockey isn;'t the problem here. The problem is the people in charge haven't got a clue what to do or how to do it. The fans are fed up.
I understand this is a rebuilding year, but come on boys!!